The days leading up to Valentine’s day are some of the busiest and most profitable for flower shops and jewelry stores. So trying to cash in on some of the action I put a Shop ‘til You Drop page on my blogs. Not going to lie to you, if you buy something through those banners I get a percentage from the sale and so far I have made absolutely nothing. I am sure not giving up just yet.

With so many layoffs and the unemployment rate hitting 7.2% I have been asking myself a question about all those businesses laying people off. Didn’t they put some money aside for tough times when times were good?, or is the answer pretty obvious?. One of my dreams is to one day have my own business and if that business grows then I am sure that I will have employees. If I make money when the good times are here then I am going to put a certain percentage of those profits aside to help when the good times are over, isn’t that part of a good ongoing business plan?, I would think so. I am not saying that I wouldn’t let people go, not saying that at all. What I am saying is this, the money that was put aside would be used to get through the bad times, if that money ran out then I would go to plans b, c and d if necessary. Maybe I am missing the whole point here and I don’t know what I am talking about, that is fine, I have never claimed to know everything. I just have a simple question that I wish somebody would answer for me. 

Another week and that means another Investing Report. The week wasn’t as bad as previous ones and that is just fine with me. My account was down $52.90 for the week. I have this strange feeling that this week will be a good one, I guess we’ll find out next Monday if I was right.

I had no trades last week.

My investments, 15 Bidu Inc (BIDU) shares, 50 Dow Chemical Co (DOW) shares and 100 Allied Irish Banks PLC (AIB) shares.

Every time I get a paycheck I see that $50 dollars go to my 403-B/DCP and I smile because I know that I am saving something for the future. The way the financial situation is right now it has become very tough to make buck but when things finally turn around I will be ready to reap the rewards. Anyway, here is the report.

I sometimes amaze myself at how good I am at picking stocks. The only real winners I’ve had were Visa (V) and Marvel (MVL) but that was before they tanked. Then there were the banks, Bank of America (BAC), JP Morgan (JPM), National Bank of Greece (NBG) and guess what?, they all tanked. My latest good pick was Bidu Inc (BIDU) and wouldn’t you know it, it tanked just after I got it but it’s almost back up at the price that I paid to get it. I could go on and on but I’d rather not because I sure don’t want to end up in therapy because that costs money which I don’t have at the moment. Still, it would be nice if one or all of my current picks, all three losing money so far, would start to make me some money that way I could claim that 3 out of 13 ain’t that bad, that is a .231 batting average.